Knitting machinery



Aug. 14, 1934.

D. J. MAYER KNITTING MACHINERY Filed Oct. I0, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTOR ATTORNEY Aug. 14, 1934. D. J. MAYER 2 KNITTING MACHINERY v 7Filed Oct. 10, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Aug. 14, 1934. D.J. MAYER 1,970,242

KNITTING MACHINERY Filed Oct. 10, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEYPatented Aug. 14, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

' 1,910,242 KNITTING MACHINERY Daniel J. Mayer, Belleville, N. J.,assignor to Metal Textile Corporation, West Orange, N. J., a corporationof Delaware Application October 10, 1932, Serial No. 637,012

5 Claims.

strands of metallic wire to flatten the same into a desired ribbon-likeform as the same is delivered to the knitting needles.

Heretofore considerable trouble has been experienced in connection withthe operation of knitting machines, especially when utilizing the samein the knitting of metallic fabrics, due to excessive tensions andstrains upon the metallic filament or strand as drawn from the supplythereof by the somewhat jerky intermittent operation of the knittingneedles, which frequently causes breaks, kinks or distortions resultingin holes or other imperfections in the finished fabric. Attempts havebeen made to reduce such trouble by easing the slip or movement of themetallic filament or strand by the use of oil or other lubricant, and byvery careful selection of the metallic filament or strand to eliminaterough material which is easily subject to breaking even when a lubricantis used. This solution of the problem is not satisfactory, not only forthe reason that it does not completely cure the trouble, but for thereason that the oil or other lubricant coats the finished fabric,tending, especially with metals such as copper, to tarnish the same, andconsequently the oil or other lubricant must be removed from thefinished fabric by chemical processes involving additional labor andexpense.

As a solution for the above-mentioned and other difficulties attendantupon machine knitting, especially with metallic material, this inventionhas for its principal object to provide a novel feed roller mechanismadapted to assume the burden of drawing off the filament or strand to beknitted from the supply spools and thereupon feeding the same to theknitting needles at properly timed speed and in just the right amount toform a given knitted loop, whereby the filament or strand is smoothlysupplied as fast as it is consumed by the knitting operations, and freefrom drag or strain, thus avoiding risk of breaks, kinks or otherdistortions resulting in imperfections in the finished product.

Another object of this invention is to provide a feed roller mechanismfor knitting machines operative to'fiatten a round wire strand orfilament, simultaneously with the feeding of the same, to thus convertthe same into a fiat or ribbon-like strand preparatory to the knittingthereof into the desired fabric.

Another object of this invention is to provide novel means incombination with the feed roller mechanism for adjusting the knittingmechanism to insure correct consumption of the strand or filament incorrespondence with the rate of feed thereof by said feed rollermechanism.

Other objects of this invention, not at this time more particularlyenumerated, will be understood from the following detailed descriptionof the same.

Illustrative embodiments of the various features of this invention areshown in the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Fig. 1 is a top plan view, in part, of a circular knitting machineequipped with the novel feed roller mechanism and other novel featuresaccording to this invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical section, taken on line22 in Fig. 1, but showing the feed roller mechanism in elevation; Fig. 3is a detail sectional view of the feed roller mechanism per se, taken online 3-3 in Fig. 1; and. Fig. 4 is another detail sectional view of thefeed roller mechanism per se, taken on line 44 in Fig. 1.

Similar characters of reference are employed in the above-describedviews, to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to said drawings, the principles and novel structural featuresof this invention are shown as applied to a circular knitting machine;the same comprising a base 5, which is usually supported upon legs or asuitable framework (not shown). Formed in said base is a centralinternally screw threaded opening 6, into which is threaded an adjustingsleeve '7, and upon the upper end of which is carried the verticalneedle cylinder 8, the latter being thus subject to raising and loweringmovements for adjusting the operative position of the needles 9 whichare ver-. tically movable in the guide channels or grooves 10 providedaround the exterior surface of said needle cylinder 8. The cylinder 8may be positively held against rotation in any suitable man ner shouldthis be desirable; there is, however, enough frictional resistancebetween sleeve 7 and cylinder 8 to prevent rotation of the latter afterdesired adjustment is made and during operation of the machine. Threadedupon said adjusting sleeve 7 is a jamb-nut wheel 11, adapted to bebrought into engagement with the underside of said base 5, so as to locksaid adjusting sleeve '7 in selected adjusted relation to the latter. v

Formed in the top side of said base 5 is a bearing recess 12 concentricto the vertical axis of said needle cylinder 8. Mounted to turn in saidbearing recess 12 and about the needlecylinder 8 is a rotatable ring 13which is driven from the driving-shaft 14 by a pinion 15 adapted to meshwith the bevel gear 16 with which the underside of said rotatable ring13 is provided. Said rotatable ring 13 is provided at its innerperiphery with an upstanding annularflange 17 to which is suitablysecured the needle-raising and rest cam means 18. Affixed upon saidrotatable ring 13 is a cam ring 19, which is preferably of the usualsectional form. Adjustably aflixed to the interior face of said cam ring19 is the needle stitch cam means 20. Preferably said needle stitch cammeans 20 is subject to a limited amount of vertical adjustment upon andrelative to said cam ring 19; and to this end the upper margin of theinterior face of said cam ring 19 is provided with an overhang flange 21disposed above the stitch cam means 20. Threaded vertically downwardthrough said overhang flange 21 are adjustthe latter is disposed indesired vertically adjusted position, said screws 23 may be tightened toengage their heads 25 against suitable seats 26 and thus operate to drawthelstitch-cam means 20, when suitably adjusted; into bound relation tothe cam ring 19 to thereby hold the same in such adjusted position. Itwill be obvious that the means for thus adjusting the stitch cam meansis subject to a more or less wide range of variation as to form, andconsequently the means above described for such purpose is intended tobe merely illustrative, since any arrangement permitting the fixing ofthe stitch cam means 20 in adjusted connection with the cam ring 19 maybe employed. The

needles 9 are provided with the usual outwardly .projecting projectionsor foot-portions 27 which are operatively engaged by the stitch andneedle raising and rest cam means to efiect the timed operative strokesof the needles in the usual manner.

The novel feed roller mechanism according to this invention is fixedlymounted upon the top of the camring v19 so as to travel around theneedle cylinder 8 therewith, said feed .roller mechanism being soarranged as to, in part, overhang the base 5 outwardly of said cam ring.In

the drawings, and for the purpose of simplifying the illustration of theinvention, but a single feed rollermechanism is shown as adapted for asingle feed machine; it will be obvious, however, that for multiple feedmachines the stitch and needle raising and rest cam means will bemultiplied according to the number of feeds employed, and likewise thenumber of feed 'rollerimechanisms will be increased accordingly. Thefeed roller mechanism comprises a suitably shaped main housing 28including vertically spaced upper and lower walls 29 and 30respectively. Supported by its journals 31 in bearing openings of saidwalls 2930, .so as to lie between the latter for rotation about avertical axis is a driven roller 32.-

Preferably the journals 31 are supported by suitable anti-frictionbearings, such as the ballbearing sets 33-34 respectively mounted in theupper and lower walls 29 and 30 of said housing 28. The means fordriving the driven roller 32 comprises a stationary ring gear35 which isfixed upon thebase 5 exteriorly of and concentric to said cam ring 19.The lower journal of said driven roller 32 is provided with an extension36 exteriorly projecting beneath the housing 28, and

fixed on this extension 36 is a pinion 37 which meshes with saidstationary ring gear 35. As the cam ring 19 turns about the needlecylinder,

the housing 28 with the roller 32 will be carried about a vertical axisis an idler feed roller 42 which opposes and cooperates with said drivenroller 32. Preferably the journals 41 of said idler roller 42 aresupported by suitable anti-friction bearings, such as the ball-bearingsets 4344 respectively mounted in the upper and lower walls 39 and 40 ofsaid bearing frame 38; Connected withforward end of said housing 28, bybolts 45 or other suitable fastening means, is a backing plate 48 whichis thus arranged behind said bearing frame 38. Threaded through saidbacking plate 46 are adjustable thrust screws 4.? which are utilized tothrust and position said bearing frame 38 so as to support the feedroller 42 in operative spaced relation to the driven feed roller 32.Said thrust screws 7 are provided with jamb nuts 48 to engage theexterior face of said backing plate 46 to thereby lock the thrust screws47 in desired adjusted position.

Associated with said feed roller mechanism are filament or strandguiding elements 'for leading the material to be knitted from a sourceof supply to the feed rollers 32--42 and thence in-connection withtensioning means into operative relation to the knitting needles 9 ofthe machine. Illustrative of a suitable arrangement of such guiding andtensioning means, the same comprise a guide post 48 suitably fixed uponthe upper side .of the housing 28 adjacent to its outer side, andprovided with a guide eye means 50, preferably made of a good wearresistant material such as porcelain, agate or the like. Suitablysecured across the outer side of said housing 28 is a bridge plate 51having at its upper end an outwardly ofr= set bracket arm 52 upon whichis rotatably sup- *ported a grooved guide wheel 53. Supported by saidbridge plate 51 is a tubular guide member 1 54, the" inner end of whichterminates adjacent to the nip of the feed rollers 3242. Suitablyfixe'd'upon the upper side of the housing 28 adjacent to its inner sideis a bracket 55 by which 'is supported a guide arm 56 provided with asuitable guide eye means 57. Fixed, upon the housing 28 adjacent to theforward end of the same is an upstanding resilient or spring tensioningarm 58 provided at its free end with guide eye member 59, and fixed uponthe housing 28 below said tensioning arm 58 is a bracket 60 in theinwardly off-set free end of which is arranged Ea guide eye member 61.The strand or filament ill) 3242 so as to be gripped thereby. Uponissuing from the feed rollers 3242 the strand or filament is passedthrough the guide eye means 57 and thence through the guide eye member59 of the tensioning arm 58 to the guide eye member 61 from which itextends to the needle cylinder 8 so as to be held subject to operativeengagement by the knitting needles 9 as actuated by the cam mechanism ofthe machine and as the feed roller mechanism travels around the needlecylinder 8 in company with said cam mechanism.

From the above description it will be understood that, during theoperation of the machine, the feed rollers 32-42 will not only becarried around the needle cylinder 8 but will also be smoothly andcontinuously driven, so that as they grip the strand or filament to beknitted, the same will be continuously drawn off the supply spool thusavoiding the jerky or intermittent" movement of said strand or filament,asis the case when the pulling of the same is accomplished only by theknitting strokes of the needles, while at the same time just the rightamount of said strand or filament is fed to form each successive stitch,sufficient slack being allowed for and tensionally controlled by thetensioning arm 58.

The feed roller mechanism, so far as its feeding functions areconcerned, is adapted to operatively feed a filament or strand of anykind of material. It is especially useful however in connection with thefeeding of a metallic filament or strand in the knitting of metallicfabrics.

In addition to its feeding function, the feed roller mechanism may alsobe utilized to flatten a round wire filament or strand into a fiat orribbon-like form, where such form is desirable in the knitted metallicfabric to be produced. For such additional work the feed rollers arepreferably made of hardened steel, and would receive round wire from thesupply spool and as they drew the same from'the latter, to feed properamounts thereof in correspondence to the requirements of thestitch-forming operations of the knitting needle9, would flatten suchround wire into the desired ribbon-like form prior to delivery thereofto said knitting needles. Owing to the fact that the feed rollers areoperated at low surface speed, as compared with the operation offlattening rolls as heretofore used in wire rolling machines independentof knitting machines, the novel combined feed and flattening rollersaccording to this invention may be constructed much lighter in weightand yet possess more durability and longer life in use. In so using thefeed roller mechanism, a material saving is effected, since round wireis much cheaper than fiat wire. Another advantage due to thecomparatively slow speed at which the round wire strand or filament isflattened is the fact that the resultant ribbonlike strand can be mademuch brighter because excessive temperatures are not generated, as isthe case when flattening round wire at normal high rolling mill speeds.High temperatures generated with high speed flattening rolls have atendency to break down the burnished surfaces of the rollers in arelatively short time, consequently requiring frequent regrinding andburnishing of the rolls. In the instant case, the comparatively slowspeed feed rollers are not subject to excessive temperatures andconsequently the effective life of the rollers is substantiallyprolonged and the burnished surfaces maintained over substantiallylonger intervals of time.

The ability to use the feed rollers of this intion must be extremelyprecise, otherwise with a slight shortening of the traverse cam byreason of wear, the ribbon catches under the body of the spooled ribbonand the flange of the spool, this in itself being the cause of manybreaks with resultant waste, when using the spooled ribbon to feedknitting machines. Then too spooled flat or ribbon-like wire, whenquantities thereof are spooled up in advance and stored, is likely totarnish and lose its original brilliancy even though the storage periodbe comparatively short. By virtue of the instant invention, however, theround wire is flattened practically at the same time as the fabric isknitted and consequently the fabric is of brighter appearance asdelivered from the machine.

From the standpoint of its feeding operation, the feed roller mechanismof the instant invention is so arranged that the speed of the rollers3242 is timed to supply to the knitting needles just the amount offilament or strand as will be taken up by the stitch-forming operationsof the needles and according to the size of stitch loop desired to beprovided in the finished fabric. In order to adjust with nicety theoperative relation of the knitting mechanism to the lead of filament orstrand to be engaged by the needles, the needle cylinder 8 may be raisedor lowered, as may be desirable; by releasing the jamb-nut wheel 11 andthen turning the adjusting sleeve 7 up and down relative to the cam ring19; and, furthermore, the needle stitch cam 20 may be adjusted upon thecam ring 19 to slightly increase or decrease the stitch-forming strokesof the needles 9 as may be necessary. It will therefore be obvious thatthere are several factors involved in making ready the machine so as toinsure that a correct quantity of filament or strand is fed to theknitting mechanism, viz., providing feed rollers 3242 of a selecteddiameter; providing a ratio of driving gear transmission calculated todrive the rollers at proper speed; and finally, vertically adjusting theneedle cylinder relative to the cam ring, and adjusting the needlestitch cam relative to the cam-ring as may be required.

I am aware that many changes could be made and many apparently widelydifferent embodiments of this invention could be made without departingfrom the scope thereof, and consequently it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingsshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. The combination in a knitting or like machine of a pair ofcooperating rollers between which a wire strand to be knitted is engagedand by which the same is both drawn from a source of supply thereof andflattened to ribbon-like form and thereupon fed to the machine at aspeed substantially equivalent to the rate of consumption thereof, meansfor driving one of said rollers, and means for adjusting the otherroller toward and from the driven roller, said latter means beingadapted to maintain said rollers in selected spaced relation one toanother according to the thickness of ribbon desired.

2. The combination in a knitting or like machine of a pair of combinedmetallic strand feeding and flattening rollers, means for guiding saidstrand from'a supply source to said rollers, means for guiding saidstrand from said rollers, said latter means including an elastictensioning arm,

means for driving one of said rollers, and means for adjusting the otherroller toward and from the driven roller, said latter means beingadapted to maintain said rollers in-selected spaced relation one toanother according to the thickness 0! ribbon desired.

3. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a base, a needlecylinder supported by said base, vertically reciprocable needles mountedon said cylinder, a rotatable cam ring mechanism, needle rest cam meanscarried by said cam ring mechanism, needle stitch cam means carried bysaid cam ring mechanism, a housing supported upon and movable with saidcam ring mechanism, combined metallic strand feeding and flatteningrollers journaled in said housing, a stationary ring gear on said base,one of said rollers having a pinion engaged with said ring gear wherebythe same is driven when carried around said nee'dle cylinder with saidcam ring mechanism, and means for adjusting the other roller toward andfrom said driven roller, said latter means being'adapted to maintainsaid rollers in selected spaced relation one to another according to thethickness of metallic ribbon desired.

4. In a circularv knitting machine, in combina-'- tion, a base, a needlecylinder vertically adjustable relative to said base, verticallyrecip'rocable needles mounted on said cylinder, a rotatable cam ringmechanism having needle actuating cam means including an adjustableneedle stitch cam, a housing supported upon and movable with said camring mechanism, combined metallic .strand feeding and'fiattening rollersjournaled in cam ring mechanism having needle actuating cam meansincluding an adjustable needle stitch cam, a housing supported upon andmovable with saidcam ring mechanism, combined metallic strand feedingand flattening rollers journaled in said housing, a stationary ring gearon said base, one of said rollers having a pinion engagedwith said ringgear whereby the same is driven when carried around said needle cylinderwith said cam ring mechanism, means for adjusting the other rollertoward and from said driven roller, said latter means being adapted tomaintain saidrollers in selected spaced relation one to anotheraccording to the thickness of metallic ribbon desired, means for guidingsaid strand from a supply source to said rollers, means for guiding saidstrand from said rollers to said needles, and said latter meansincluding an elastic tensioning arm.

' DANIEL J. MAYER.

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